Nutrition Education for the Health Care Professions

Abstract

Nutrition and related lifestyle factors greatly impact well-being in health and disease. The World Health Organization defines nutrition as " the intake of food, considered in relation to the body's dietary needs. Good nutrition—an adequate, well balanced diet combined with regular physical activity— is a cornerstone of good health. Poor nutrition can lead to reduced immunity, increased susceptibility to disease, impaired physical and mental development, and reduced productivity " (http://www.who.int/topics/nutrition/en/). At the level of the population, we are grappling with the chal-lenges of the double burden of both over-and undernutrition. Despite the profound impact good nutrition has on health and wellness, the science of nutrition and its application to health care are not fully integrated in most health professions training programs. This gap is further compounded by the fact that patients and the public remain confused about the correct nutritional advice to follow given the widespread media interest attracted by diet and the disparity in nutrition-related health messages that are in circulation. While dieti-tians are recognized as the health care professionals with nutrition expertise, all health care professionals need to be knowledgeable and competent in nutrition as it applies to health promotion and prevention, as well as treating acute and chronic diseases. Fewer than 100,000 registered dietitians and other state-licensed nutrition professionals practice in the USA. This modest number is eclipsed by the more than 3 million physicians, physician assistants, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, and many other groups of US health care profession-als. The distribution is similar in many other countries. For example, in Australia there are 2,831 dietitians: 0.03 per 1,000 compared to the ratio of physicians (3 per 1,000). In the UK, the number of dietitians to doctors in the health service is 3 per 100. Even in the presence of robust referral mechanisms between doctors and dietitians there still needs to be effective nutritional screening and triage by doctors in order to provide specialist input to the most appropriate patients. As a result, most of the non-nutritionist health care providers have to deal with nutrition-related conditions and diseases on a daily basis, but few are adequately prepared to recognize key diagnostic signs and then assist their patients and clients with effective interventions. This need for adequate nutritional training has global relevance because there is no region or country without significant impact of nutrition on health outcomes. Health care providers in developing countries often have to worry about different nutrition problems in their patients, but their need for adequate nutrition training is just as great as that of their colleagues in more affluent regions and is also often unmet. Recent exchanges between a number of countries have highlighted the fact that there is much in common with the nature of the problems relating to gaps